Curiantoe
by Stossle
Summary: Some aliens invade with sudden force. Others seep through the rift, biding their time until their numbers are strong. Throughout history the Curiantoe have been invading, but their conquest starts now. A Torchwood story set in Season 2 after Adam.
1. Chapter 1

**Curiantoe**

**Summary:** Some aliens invade with sudden force. Others seep through the rift, biding their time until their numbers are strong. Throughout history the Curiantoe have been invading, but their conquest starts now. A Torchwood story set between Adam and Reset of Season 2.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Torchwood or any of its characters. However, if Jack and Ianto were real, I would be tempted to steal them.

.........

**Chapter 1**

Ianto Jones stepped into the Torchwood archive and took a deep breath. A reassuring musty dankness filled his nostrils. The archive contained row after row of storage units containing alien artefacts collected throughout Torchwood's 130 year history. In the older sections artefacts were stored in rosewood shelves and mahogany tea-chests labelled with neat cursive letters. Later additions were stored in large metal compactus. Most of the archives were coated in a thick layer of dust.

Ianto liked the idea that these rooms demonstrated the past activities of Torchwood agents back to 1879 when the institute had been set up. Yet the shelves contained technology that mankind wouldn't encounter for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Ianto loved that each object had a story to tell of far away places and distant times.

Ianto relished in his role of archivist. He knew that the rest of Torchwood's staff thought the job was tedious and menial. It wasn't. Ianto was responsible for objects that few other humans could even dream of. When time permitted Ianto would spend hours sorting and cataloguing. The archives were quiet and orderly yet the artefacts it contained could destabilise the planet.

Ianto had come to the archives to deposit a small puzzle box which had fallen through the rift. His boss Jack Harkness had managed to open the box only to find it full of fine grain sand. Ianto imagined the sand coming from some distant planet and wondered what sort of people, or creatures, lived there.

Ianto placed the puzzle box inside a slightly larger cardboard one, sealed it with masking tape and labelled it with a printed sticky label containing a date, item description and reference number. He wound open the compactus and placed the box next to similarly boxed and labelled artefacts.

As Ianto stepped out of the compactus he thought he heard a shuffling noise near the older section of the archives. He tutted. Probably rats again. He'd have to lay more baits. As he walked towards the older section he hoped they hadn't caused much damage. Such precious items shouldn't be at the mercy of rodents. He found the source of the noise back in 1926. It wasn't rats.

A small round object, around the size of a cricket ball, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string, was quivering on its shelf. Ianto eyed it cautiously. This couldn't be good. Tentatively Ianto reached out and flicked over the small paper label that hung from the object. 'Curiantoe stone' it read in faded handwriting.

Ianto put his finger to his earpiece and activated it. "Jack."

"Ianto." came a cheery American accent through the ear piece.

"Jack, I'm down in the archives and one of the artefacts is moving. It's called a Curiantoe stone. Do you know what that is?"

The item was rocking more violently now and Ianto felt his voice must have betrayed some of his concern because "Hold tight Ianto. I'll be down in a moment." was the reply.

Ianto stood back and watched the item rocking backwards and forwards. His curiosity made him want to pull the string and find out what was inside the package, but his natural caution kept him back. A violent shake and the package rolled dangerously close to the edge of the shelf. Ianto couldn't help himself. Caution was one thing, but having a precious alien artefact falling to the floor and braking was out of the question. Ianto reached forward and pushed the package towards the back of the shelf. As he did so the brown paper split open and a bright light pushed through the tear. Before Ianto could pull his hand back something black emerged from the light and scuttled up his arm. Ianto yelled and shook his arm violently. The black shape flicked across the room and smashed against the wall. It lay still. Ianto could see that it was oval in shape with six legs opening out like segments of an orange.

Suddenly it rushed towards Ianto. It launched itself at him, and although it was only small, he felt as if someone had hit him in the chest with a sledgehammer. Then there was a sharp pain as its legs dug into his flesh and pierced his heart. Ianto fell forward clutching at his chest. Blood poured from the wound. His last conscious act was to wrench the creature out and fling it from him. It skittered away.

If Ianto had been conscious he would have smelt the acrid stench of blood overpowering the moist, dusty scent of the Torchwood archives.

.........

**Please review. Can you see this story going somewhere?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Curiantoe**

**Chapter 2**

Owen stood outside the operating theatre of the University Hospital and looked at his hands covered in powder from the latex gloves he had recently removed. They were shaking slightly. His mind kept flashing back to the sight of Ianto lying in a pool of blood. When Jack had called him down to the archives with a panicked voice Owen was prepared for something bad. It was still a shock to see Ianto's unmoving form with Jack leaning over him and pressing his hands to Ianto's chest to stop the flow of blood. Jack's blue shirt was stained red and blood coated his skin from hand to elbow.

'_Another dead one._' Owen had thought.

Although there was a faint pulse Ianto had lost more blood than most people could survive. And so followed a nightmare of blood, ambulances and operating theatres. No matter how much medical experience Owen had, it was a little too close to home.

When Owen entered the waiting room he had been ambushed on by Gwen and Toshiko. "How is he? Is he going to be ok?" Gwen asked. Jack didn't even look up. He knew the answer.

"He's alive." Owen said. Jack's head shot up. Owen directed the next comment to Jack. "The next few hours really matter, but if he recovers from the surgery alright, he should make a full recovery."

A slow smile spread across Jack's face until Owen was dazzled by the half moon of white teeth.

...........

Jack was frustrated. It wasn't a feeling he was used to. It had been a very long time since he hadn't been able to simply take what he wanted. The strain was starting to get to him.

Ianto was recovering steadily from his injury, but Jack had been instructed by Owen to keep his hands off for at least another couple of weeks. Jack didn't want to loose faith with the Welshman so he couldn't seek fulfilment elsewhere. To top it all off investigation into the Curiantoe Stone and the creature that had attacked Ianto had come to a grinding halt.

To start with they were inundated with leads. It wasn't just Ianto who had been attacked. Apparently simultaneously across Cardiff, stone shaped objects had dissolved into black creatures attacking anyone present. Most of the stones had been in peoples families for years until time forgot how they came to be there. Others were picked up more recently in gardens or on beaches.

The Torchwood archives had revealed little information. The stones had traces of rift energy and so had apparently come through the rift, but not much else could be discerned. The stones had been named by a Torchwood agent for the propensity for people to keep them as curios. Even with the massive Torchwood database at his disposal Jack had been unable to find any other information on the stones or the black creatures that had emerged from them. Although over one hundred people had been attacked, all the black creatures had disappeared without a trace. Considering that some of the stones must have opened without anyone around, there were likely to be many hundreds of these creatures hiding somewhere in Cardiff.

Jack looked up from his desk at Ianto walking across the office to bend tentatively down to reach a pizza box that someone had carelessly left on the floor. Ianto grimaced slightly. Jack didn't notice. He noticed the way Ianto's suit stretched taunt against his behind and along his back. He noticed the tight muscles of Ianto's calves. He noticed the way that a small glimpse of red sock could be seen under Ianto's trouser leg.

Jack grabbed his Webley and swung on his great coat. "I'm off Weevil hunting" he called over his shoulder as he left the Hub. It was going to be a long two weeks.


End file.
